Part 8

105
Mid-late September

“Signal at 42.5 percent and… fading… 41.2…

40.8…” I turned a new direction until the signal got
stronger.
“42.7… 42.9… 43.6…” I mumbled, keeping an eye on
the signal chart and the window outside.
It’s been a week since I left Mars. For six hours today,
today, I have been searching the Asteroid Belt for the
ships, all by hand. Fortunately, some were very far apart,
and most all were too small to cause damage.
Unfortunately, most modern ships don’t have an autopilot
for frequency modulation, so I had no break, or bathroom
time, or I would go severely off course by no fewer then
four kilometers and loose 20% or more of the signals
strength, so I was more then irritated. I guess that’s why
it’s such a good hiding spot…
I did nothing for the next few hours, except watch some
small rocks as they try to hit me and fail, along with the
radio and chart, which I am damned surprised, could even
work! Jack gave me the tuner so that I could find it. All
that could be heard through the signal is Sam saying “Indy
Campbell” repeatedly. I had no clue what it meant, and
neither did Adam when I reported it in.
Throughout this whole trip, I had not seen one shooting
star, and that unsettled me…
Finally, after hours of searching, I had enough proof to
believe that I had even found the rock. It was a ways away,
and the radio chirped in at 97%. That large thing must be
1
it; no other rock in this general zone is as big as an eighth
of Maui. I put the Nagare on autopilot and sighed loudly in
achievement and exhaustion.
I got up to use the bathroom, and get a banana from the
replicator, and then I was back down. I scanned the rock
for some kind of entrance.
Adam said that Sam would have rigged a way to dock,
and get inside without the aide of a ship. He said the
entrance should be a blue translucent tunnel extending out
and molding to the entrance of a ship. None of us knew
how to access it, but I had an idea I wanted to try…
Adam had told me that Sam was very possessive, which
is a reason he kept the Janus. With that knowledge, maybe
all his passwords are the same for everything. Adam had
said that Sam did that with his programs before, so he
didn’t doubt that theory.
“Please input tunnel password…” A stern but calming
female voice said when I established a connection.
I pulled up my keyboard and typed up the same code I
used on Sam’s NTD Arrowhead: “xSCxHTx” The sticks
code, as I called it. The screen flashed green and the voice
chimed.
“Password accepted. Please position the entrance of the
ship to the edge of the tunnel.” I shut the keyboard down
and edged the starboard side of the Nagare to the outgoing
tunnel. The tunnel was oblong, sixty-five percent
transparent, and had no ramp or anything inside. It’s
probably weightless in there too.
“I have a bad feeling about this…” I said aloud. I docked
the ship and programmed a setting to go off, triggering the
ship to leave to safety until I needed it using my Aexom’s
transmissions.
I opened the hatch to the Nagare and quickly looked
around, sniffing for some sour air, or a leak, and slowly

2
stepped off. At the edge of the cockpit door, the gravity
died and I floated out a few meters. I looked around
quickly for something to push off, when a loud noise
freaked me out. I looked behind my person to see a safety
wall drop from out of nowhere to help prevent air leaks. I
rolled my eyes and told my ship to go away. It did, just as I
programmed, and as it did, I saw a shooting star. I smiled,
happy that I was wished some luck, and ventured inside.

***

I expected to encounter a gravity generator, but I didn’t.

The whole thing was in freefall. From the looks of it, the
station was designed to function in this environment, just
like the Avenger, but this was in much better condition.
I looked around to try to make sense of where I was.
Control centers with consoles and chairs with seat belts
were stationed on the walls, floors, and ceilings, whichever
way you look at it and each six side was painted a different
color contrasting with dark silver, so I bet that this was
made before Diclose Cillme was discovered, or on a very
low budget.
In addition, large rectangular windows occupied the
centers of each wall, showing the rooms beyond, all of
which were square shaped. I sighed and thought I was in
one-way mirror hell or something. From what I could see,
it was all mostly straight foreword, and getting to major
areas would not be much of a problem. Getting to an
individual room would be a problem.
“OK… let’s go.” I said. I floated up to a nearby console
and accessed it, searching for a map. The computer was
severely outdated, and it didn’t look that well maintained.
It was hard to work, and it started up slowly.

3
 I waited fifteen agonizing minutes for it to stabilize and
almost lost my patience.
The outgoing tunnel opened and I heard some voices. I
panicked, and then in a very snake like manner, I floated
out and hid under the console away from view. I looked
back to see who it was.
“…I’m gonna do it today Haruna, today! I want it to
happen today!” Sam said. Haruna responded.
“Sam, please, you shouldn’t do this.” She said. They both
quickly flew toward the glass rooms. Sam snorted while I
followed them. I was trying my best to be as discrete as I
could, I had practiced when Mom was alive, sneaking
through the house, so I knew what I was doing.
“Janus is the God of beginnings and endings Haruna. My
ship symbolizes change and evolutions like the series of
past to future, of one condition to another, of one vision to
another, the growing up of young people. My ship, Janus,
is all of that in one mechanic beast of a ship.” He said.
Haruna spoke.
“That was its codename; Janus was it’s codename to
throw off the general public. Think of all the people in the
system that didn’t deserve it. What would they think?” she
asked.
“Like I had said, they could gather on Europa and launch
something into Jupiter to increase its mass and cause
nuclear fission. There, you have a new star and planet, for
you, you Haruna to live on.” Sam said with care. Haruna
frizzed her hair.
“No! You don’t see the problems behind that! Europa
doesn’t have a working atmosphere for one, because of its
low atomic mass. Second, Jupiter cannot become Lucifer,
as you so gladly say it will, because it lacks the
containment to keep fusion going, where a star can.

4
 Jupiter’s mass is one-eightieth the mass needed for Gods
sake! This is not a movie Sam! This is reality! We don’t
even have anything to increase Jupiter’s mass it’s too damn
big and expensive! We’ve gone through this before,
Lucifer cannot exist!” she bellowed. Sam turned away.
“No Haruna, you’re wrong, I’ve done research on this,
and it will work.” He said. Haruna yelled at him.
“It won’t work! The only reason you think it will is that
you read a report or book, whichever, by Sir Arthur
Charles Clarke and you liked the idea! Terrans are being
over controlled by the media, why are you still doing it?”
Haruna asked. Sam didn’t answer.
“Is it because of your stupid dumb ass idea to fuse with
Kat? Huh? Kat was crazy, and you knew that, but you
fused anyway, and now your stuck like that for the rest of
your now cut short life.” Haruna said angrily.
“It will only be cut short when I go and destroy the sun,"
he muttered. Haruna went on and stopped before a large
door. They waited for it to open, and I hid behind a corner.
“There’s another thing, your plan lacks logic, if you love
me like you say you do, then why go off in a ship
prototype you made to destroy the sun just to get back at
the man who was trying to complete your work? Again, is
it Kat? Is Kat doing this?” she asked. Sam looked at her
and they passed through the door.
“Kats not responsible for all this, I am!” he said. Haruna
yelled at him.
“You are Kat you dumb piece of ectoplasmic soot!” she
yelled so loud, it could probably be heard throughout the
whole station. Sam was as they left the hallways and went
into the main hanger. There, the Janus rested, floating on a
cushion of air, but the Colombia was nowhere in sight.
I snuck up behind the two in a subtle way to avoid being
stuck behind the door, and I quickly hid behind some tied

5
down crates. I looked at the ship before me. Something
that set me off about the hanger is that it was a very
familiar type of pastel blue, and lighting… I couldn’t quite
place it…
The Janus herself looks like an eagle closing in on its
prey, but also made to look practical in the line of duty it
was made for. It was dark grey, and seemed to have three
decks, with the dewdrop shaped cockpit in the center.
“You always do that Haruna, you always either blame
Kat, or you tell me how dumb my ideas are. My ideas
always work, always.” He said. Haruna crossed her arms.
“Name one plan, just one that worked.” She said. Sam
answered immediately.
“That’s not important.” He said. Haruna scoffed.
“You don’t have one do you? Getting your ship back and
killing the man who continued your job didn’t work,
robbing Caesars Palace with your Asian buddies for
funding this hanger didn’t work, and capturing Kyoko and
planting the AC18 to get rid of attention didn’t work!” she
yelled. Sam countered.
“Getting Kyoko in the first place was your idea!” Sam
bellowed.
Wait, wait, wait… back up…what did he say? I felt my
whole chest become numb in dread for a second …what
did he say? Did Haruna do this to me? Is Haruna is the one
who got me involved in the first place? I thought she was
the…
“Well, that may be so, but I’m not the one who didn’t call
your brother for help getting the AC18 out!” she said.
“I have enough skills to get the AC18 out, I don’t need
Adam. If my security had been tighter, I would have gotten
it out too.” He said while he pointed at Haruna.
Haruna spread her arms out in protest.

6
 “I was busy! You told me to try to contact Wu Bau Nu to
try to hit Caesars again; I couldn’t have gotten an update
on your badly aging Heracles system and get the attention
of Woonie after one failure.” She said. Sam looked away in
ponderment.
“You may be right, maybe I could have glued the locks
down so that Kyoko couldn’t escape," he said. Haruna
glared at him with an open jaw, shocked at what she had
just heard.
“That’s awful! Why would you do that? Why… what…”
Haruna looked like she was at a loss for words.
“Isn’t it? What’s wrong Haruna? Do you have a better
idea?” Sam asked. Haruna looked at him and blurted out.
“Oh for Gods sake you stupid idiot, I let Kyoko go!” she
bellowed. Sam glared at her in shock.
“You did? Why?” he asked, getting angry. Haruna
counted off with her fingers.
“Well, she didn’t deserve this, getting her was a bad idea
from the start, and putting her under an AC18 laser with a
bad Hudson crystal at full power was cruel and unusual!”
“It was not cruel and unusual, it was all I had.”
“You could have killed her!”
“I would have gotten my information back.”
“For something you already had? What kind of plan is
that? Killing an innocent for information you had already
so that you could destroy the solar system! She doesn’t
deserve all this; I had no choice but to let her go!”
All of a sudden, Sam pulled a gun from his jacket and
pointed at Haruna. Her mood changed very quickly. I just
looked on in horror. Frozen in shock, and hoping that she
would be all right.

7
 “I am sick of this Haruna. You always discourage me
because you don’t agree with me. I started a partnership
with you because I loved you, not to argue with you
constantly and have nothing click between us for a year.”
Haruna’s lip quivered, too scared to move. She tried to
speak, but couldn’t.
“You support me, and you love me, don’t discourage
me.” He said. Haruna calmly spoke.
“Sam… please… please don’t shoot. Maybe over time
we could…”
“No! Not over time… now, right now.” He said. Haruna
closed her eyes and sighed.
“I cant right now… I’m not the problem Sam; Kat is one
of the main problems, maybe if…”
“Don’t talk about Kat that way.” He said through his
teeth. Haruna sighed.
“Maybe over time, we can get rid of Kat and make you
normal again Kats warping your mind and making you
insane. Please calm down and I will get some friends to try
to help you. But right now, I just can’t do it.” She said.
Sam seemed to get even angrier with Haruna, but she
showed little fear.
“You’re trying to stop me from getting revenge on
Terra?” he asked, now fully enraged.
“You’re trying to stop me from achieving my goal.” He
said. Haruna’s face was getting red and puffy.
“Well no more, not today, not now. Not ever!” He said
and cocked the hammer. Haruna started to reach run away
in the weightlessness in instinct, I started to jump out to
help her.
“Sam! No!” she yelled, but the gun went off and the blast
struck Haruna in the head.

8
 Haruna’s lifeless body flipped clockwise and kicked the
gun out of his hand, shooting a second blast at Sam. The
blast warped Sam’s elastic body, rendering him unharmed,
while Haruna’s body flipped away toward the wall.
Blood trailed along in a strange weightless spiral as her
body flipped away. I swallowed some vomit and tears, and
started to rush toward Sam. Something grabbed my ankle
and pulled me back. I was placed with my back to the
crates and softly shooshed. I knew this person.
“Zophia…?” I asked, my instant confusion blending with
my shock and sadness. She shooshed me again and she
peeked over at Sam.
I stayed where I was, trying to collect myself. I shut my
eyes, and tried not to cry, but Zophia pulled me up. Sam
was collecting the gun and wasn’t looking at Haruna.
“What are you…?” I squeaked after a second. My crying
demanded attention, and made me spasm a couple times.
Zophia interrupted.
“See what he does," she said, calm as a lake.
I looked back at Sam with my puffy face. He floated over
to Haruna and looked at her dead body for a long time,
muttering about being apologetic. He threw his gun at the
Janus as hard as he could, then he left into another room. I
was planning to go to follow, but Zophia stopped me
before I continued.
“Don’t chase him; I think he will stay in the hanger.” She
said. I looked at her, looking sadly at Haruna’s body.
“The poor soul… She was infantile and departed this life
for attempting to help us all…” she said and held onto her
prayer beads fitted snuggly into a militaristic type Hedy.
I looked this outfit over, it was grey, had many pockets,
and closely resembled a flight jumpsuit. Zophia mumbled
something, for a minute, but I interjected, trying to move
on for the time being.
9
 “What’s going on?” I asked loudly and my voice
cracking. I was far past annoyed and emotional. Zophia
didn’t answer me, she continued her death ritual, so I
smacked the beads from her hand, and they clattered
against the wall a short distance away.
“What’s going on? Why are you here?” I demanded with
my cracked voice being worse then usual. Zophia looked at
the beads for a second, and then cleared her throat. She
stretched her arm over a few meters to retrieve the beads
and spoke in a very different tone.
“I must be sincere with you. I work for the government
Francine, as an undercover agent on six levels. You will
know no more about me past those facts. I am here because
I was sent to stop Sam from hurting the Terran life, and the
balance of Sol herself. The Janus indeed has the power to
act in the manner that Sam has promised, and much thanks
to you Kyoko, we have found it.” She said.
I was confused. The mystical quality in her voice was
gone, and she wasn’t over complicating her sentences.
“You’ve been following me?” I asked, forcing myself to
calm down.
“Yes, ever since you were in hiding Francine. I had never
left your Nagare after I got you in the lunar cave. I have
been following you to shape our mission and stop Sam.” I
interjected.
“Hold on! Wait a minute! What is going on? This is way
too unreal and Hollywood for me. Sam is affiliated with
the mafia and your James Bond now? What is this? What
is going on? Who is ‘our’, what do you mean?” I asked,
but Zophia shooshed me.
“All will be shown to you soon, look.” She said.
Zophia pointed to the large hanger door. It was becoming
transparent. Sam walked out of the room, now obviously

10
with some gravity boots, and kicked Haruna’s body in
anger. I gasped in shock and Zophia shooshed me softly.
“That’s Kat.” She whispered. I nodded in understanding.
Sam went over to the Janus and got it ready.
“We just can’t let him go, can we?” I asked. Zophia
sighed. The very low hum of the ship blasted through our
bodies, but not our ears. I thought that we were suddenly in
a vacuum, but I could still speak clearly.
“My superiors and their agents are just outside with…”
Zophia trailed off and seemed to zone out in deep thought.
“What happened?” I asked. She held up her hand to
shoosh me as the ship powered up, informing me to stop. I
looked at the ship, and then started to go after Sam while
he was still here, but just as I flew over, Zophia yelped.
“No Kyoko!” she said and pulled me back down.
“Sam’s men on our Martian base have caused some
problems, so there aren’t enough ships outside to stop his
monster. We need another ship.” She said. I looked at her
cockeyed.
“What about the Colombia?” I asked. Zophia glared at
me in confusion.
“The Colombia is irrelevant to our affairs.” She said.
“If you have been following me, then you should know
that its here.” I said, openly showing that I was bothered by
her stalking me. Zophia shook her head.
“Excuse me? … I… don’t.” she said, trying to think. I
sighed.
“What were you doing while I was on Mars?” I asked.
Zophia frowned.
“Sam was trying to destroy our bases on Terra so that he
would succeed in his plan. No one there was watching
you.” She said. I was stupefied at the response.

11
 “What?” I bellowed with a delay, and then made a quick
recovery by drawing my hair back on my forehead.
Our tax dollars at work… there should be at least one
person with an eye on me if she insisted on stalking me
without my permission…
“Look… never mind, the Colombia is here, we can
chase him with it!” I said. Zophia shook her head.
“No… your delirious, the serum in the tea I gave…” she
started, but the Janus roared and quickly left the base.
Zophia and I took cover behind the boxes, and she yelled
to me.
“Brace yourself for whiplash! The ship extinguished…”
Zophia was cut off by some steam rushing at us. I ‘tied’ my
arms to some rope on the crates, and remained stiff. I felt
pain as I was flopped around from side to side, and I
remembered how much I don’t like the feeling. Elotant was
invented to prevent physical pain, and that’s all, I tell
you…
The roar of the storm lasted for ten seconds, and then it
died down. I undid my hand, and looked at Zophia. She
was meditating, or something, but I didn’t disturb her. I
looked over and saw The Colombia. It was right next to the
Janus all along. It looked like a large oblong civilian
transport ship.
“Look, the Colombia!” I said to Zophia. She came back
from her trance.
“By Grabthar's hammer…” she exclaimed in surprise
after doing a double take. I looked at the ship for a second,
and then back to Zophia, who was still in awe. She looked
at me and gulped.
“I have no orders, this is an unexpected event.” She
paused.
“In times like this, we are instructed to rely on our
instincts.” She said, but didn’t act.
12
 “Dumbfounded?” I asked. Zophia nodded slowly.
“…indubitably…” she said as slowly as her nod. I rested
my hand on my chest.
“It’s my call then?” I asked, feeling that I knew a little
more about the situation. Zophia shut her eyes and sighed.
“…Indefinably. The sprits advise me that they would
have dependence in you.” She said. Zophia floated out
from behind the boxes and flew off toward the Colombia.
I followed and looked for Haruna’s body, but it was
nowhere in sight. Just some small splashes of blood on the
wall where she was. I winced and thought of how Azuka
would take it…
“Francine, watch the ship.” Zophia said, trying to get my
attention and taking me out of my own trance. I shook my
head.
“Huh? Oh, right.” We made contact with the lost ship and
Zophia made her way to the entrance.
“How are getting… In?” I asked, but Zophia seemed to
be on it already. Before I even asked my question, she was
hacking the main door’s keypad in rapid movements. Just
as I finished my sentence, the door opened and Zophia
weightlessly flew inside. I paused in awe.
“Wow…” I said and floated in with her… but I fell on
my face as soon as I crossed the threshold.
“What the…” I said, getting up with difficulty. I saw
Zophia on one knee, looking around.
“Computer, reduce current gravity by ninety-three
percent.” She demanded in a tone that I had never heard
her use. The gravity became more bearable and the door
shut behind us.
“Why would the ship be set for Terras weight?” Zophia
mumbled. I did the calculations for the weight we were at
now. It felt like Luna, and the calculations pointed there as
13
well. Anything reasonable to feel comfortable I guess. The
main door shut behind me and I looked around, trying to
follow Zophia. She was hacking in the key code for the
cockpit.
I looked around the legendary ship. It was twice as big as
a normal transport ship, but with all the chairs ripped out,
and replaced with equipment, be it scientific, or medical,
I’m not sure. I walked over to Zophia, not sure of what to
do.
“What are you…oh!” the door she was picking at opened
and she ran inside and sat down at the pilot’s chair. I
followed and sat next to her.
“It’s a good thing we still had some records of this ship if
some one was to ever find her.” She said and started it up.
The whole thing hummed and I felt it rise up into space.
“The Colombia also has decent fire power if she was
ever under attack, but the power of the wolf and I do not
believe that we can take Sam down. Someone will have to
stop him on his ship.” She said.
The Colombia made a loud hum, and we quickly shot out
of the hanger. I was a bit shocked by the suddenness and
speed of our leave, but Zophia was used to it, checking the
instruments for failure or errors in programming and age.
I was scared to death! The trip through the asteroids was
a wee bit too fast for me!
“What do you mean ‘on his ship?” I asked.
Zophia didn’t answer for a second, due to her
maneuvering past the few oncoming rocks. I started
screaming in terror, this was intense! Fortunately, the belt
was quickly waning
“Someone is going to need to get on the Janus and
physically stop him. Oh! Praise be to Yeven! We are clear
of the asteroid belt.” She said happily.

14
 I looked around just outside and saw no more threatening
rocks out to get us.
“My, but that was fast…” I muttered with my farm girl
accent escaping me. I looked behind my person to see
Sam’s base, I couldn’t. I looked foreword and could see a
dot of light that was too big to be a distant star, or Sol out
in the distance, the Janus.
“This ship is reportedly able to go at top speeds for the
research she was used for, so we will be able to catch Sam
by matching the Inertia,” She said. I pointed at the dot.
“Is that him?” I asked. Zophia nodded.
“Yes, we need to jump him somehow. Do you need air?”
she asked. Out of all the times people have asked me that, I
could now respond correctly.
“No, but too long without and I go crazy. Wait… jump
him?” I asked in befuddlement. Zophia nodded.
“Good, I do need air. You’re going to need to get on the
ship.” She said. I winced and looked at her.
“How am I going to do that?” I asked worried about what
she was going to say. I looked at the Janus and felt a chill.
Zophia’s eyes looked left and right rapidly in thought.
“The Colombia has a connector hatch on its belly for
other ships of its kind, though the Janus does not. The
Janus has only one way in, which is the main way.
I am attempting to match the inertia and velocity of the
ship. When I succeed, you will get out via the hatch and
jump to the ship, make your way over and open the door. If
you miss, I’ll catch you. The password inside should be on
a telepathic radio signal that anyone can open if they know
it. You are familiar with the pass code I assume.” She said.
I felt my head spin.

15
 “I’m doing… what? Am I jumping the ship? That’s
suicide! It’s better to face another night of southern sun
then to jump!” I said. Zophia frowned, and then perked up.
“Francine. It is easer to fly, then to face another night of
southern Sun.” she smiled. I frowned in muffled
frustration. I didn’t like this…
“XSCxHTx, the sticks password… Always the Same…”
I muttered. Zophia announced her move.
“Attempting first connection plan A One… Are you
ready?” She asked. I frowned and felt ready to cry. We
moved up almost on top of the Janus and a voice came on
the speakers, Sam.
“Of past to future, of one condition to another, of one
vision to another…” he said. My eyes widened at what he
said.
“My dream!” I exclaimed, then suddenly, the Colombia
rocked around so hard; I fell out of my seat.
“What happened?” I asked like a total civilian… I was a
total civilian... Zophia got intense, which really spooked
me because of her nature.
“Nut bunnies…“she growled with hatred as the Janus
sped off.
“What do I do…?” I started, but Zophia yelled at me.
“Sit Down!” she bellowed, and like a hypnotic spell, I
obeyed.
“Attempting first connection plan B Two," she said and
we sped off toward Sam. I held onto my hat and I wasn’t
clear on what happened, but we seemed to be dodging
blaster shots from the Janus.
“Attempting second connection plan B Two. Kyoko,
GO!” she said.
I hesitated and started to cry. I sat back in the seat.

16
 “I can’t go! I can’t go!” I bellowed. Zophia growled
again.
“Child, please! You must! I cannot go out there for I will
loose consciousness and faint before I make contact with
the ship. You must go!” she yelled, but in her southing
way. I shook my head
“No! I can’t go! I won’t make it!” I said while sobbing.
“Francine… Show me.” She said. I looked up at her
feeling confusion with my fear.
“Excuse me?” I asked. Zophia explained herself.
“I am the one who sent out your reoccurring dreams. My
precognitive abilities saw these events come to be. I had
trained the both of us for them through subliminal
messaging.
I saw this coming. I saw our fate. I saw… nothing beyond
this moment in time. Francine, you must go and make
certain that the Terran species will live to see another day.
Show me that you are able to seal your fate and save Terra
and her vast family in immense heroic endeavor.” She said.
I was numb. Zophia had transmitted my mind-rattling
dream all these years. Oh Lord, my dream has found
meaning! I was the one who would save us all!
I started hyperventilating and loosing focus. I thought I
was going to faint.
“Child, please center yourself! You must go to the Janus
and stop Sam from destroying our lady Sol! Tonight is
what it means to be young Kyoko! Please, go!” she said.
On autopilot, I fled from the cockpit.
“Computer, eliminate the gravity!” Zophia yelled, of
which I had no warning.
I lifted off the ground and flipped which resulted in
slamming my back right into a wall. I quickly recovered

17
though and left for the transport hatch. The whole back of
the ship was depressurizing but I barely noticed, I just
floated into the room, and set the tunnel on the floor to
empty out into space.
I was barely thinking.
I braced myself and was sucked out of the Colombia,
chest first, into open space with enough whiplashes to kill
someone. I flopped around for a second and noticed that I
was hurtling toward the Januses bright pale hull, falling as
if it were standing still.
I extended my arm out to grab an exterior ladder that I
had just spotted and held on tight. I swung around like a
sticky hand toy across the belly. I screamed soundlessly
and only heard the terrified beating of my heart and the
ringing in my ear as I swung down. I stopped suddenly as I
smacked the hull with sharp and disapproving pain across
my body.
The force and impact I made on the ship forced me to
think again.
This was scary! I held onto the ship as best I could, and
tried not to curl up and cry.
Oh God, Oh God, I don’t want to be here! … I was here
though, and I had a job to do… God give me strength…
I attempted to collect myself and looked out toward Sol
to find out how far away it was. I pressed my lips together
and sniveled.
Judging by Sol’s size, we were a little more then One AU
away. I decreased my arm length and as I crawled across
the hull. I saw Zophia and the Colombia break off the
Januses Inertia and leave. I sniveled some more and made
my way to the ships only opening. I got to the closed
entryway and hesitated in fear, clutching the ladder, and
started to cry.
I don’t want to be here… I do not want to be here!
18
 Why couldn’t I have done something boring like other
people?
Why didn’t I stay in Missouri with the cows and
chickens?
…Because I wanted to go to space and… be with Johnny,
Sam killed Johnny, killing my dreams.
I need to top Sam from killing Terra.
I wiped my eyes and carefully entered the code to open
the door.
To my great surprise, it opened without a problem. No air
locks, no compressing mini room, no nothing! That was
completely illogical! I left the idea alone, and floated
inside, looking around for the cockpit.
The inside of the Janus was mostly red in color, and
seamed menacing, as if to intimidate others. Some displays
hung on the walls, and nothing was really on the floors,
creating open space. I looked back at the door I came from
and it hadn’t closed yet, which both worried and puzzled
me at the same time.
I hesitated, getting a faint feeling of déjà vu, and headed
up toward the cockpit. I was greeted by a rush of air
pushing violently at me. I heard myself cough a little, and
some hissing, but I soon became deaf again due to the
vacuum. I grabbed onto a handhold and saw Sam looking
at me furiously. I smiled a coy smile and twiddled my
fingers at him like we had known each other for years.
I was really nervous and scared … I had never seen
anyone look that angry. Sam marched up to me, never
letting me out of his sight, and said something to me, not
caring that we both can’t hear for anything. He pushed me
toward a door.
I tried to stop him, but just as I did, I was pushed
ultimately by Sam into a cylinder room with three doors
surrounding us. I gasped, and before I could realize where
19
I had seen this, Sam acted. He forced me against the wall
and the main door shut, refilling itself with air.
“How did you get here? How, by the great spirit of Gaia
did you get here? How?” he demanded.
I could see fear blended with the insanity in Sam’s eyes,
either he’s scared of how far I’ve come, and that I will stop
him, or he’s scared of what he’s doing…
My emotions trapped my words. I just glared at him,
breathing heavily.
“Do you think this is a game Kyoko? Do you?” he asked.
I remained silent. Sam looked at me for a second longer,
and then he turned around.
“You will stay locked in here and die with me . . . from
hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last
breath at thee.” he said and left as if air were being
distributed throughout the ship.
“Melville…” I muttered, remembering my dream. I
shivered in fright at his exclamation, but I didn’t let it eat
me… for Johnny.
All the air sucked out and Sam locked the door, leaving
me to float alone. The air redistributed itself. I rushed at
the door, phasing halfway through, then I got an idea. I
retracted back into the cylinder and looked at the three
doors; one has to lead to the engines.
This whole room though… it was frighteningly familiar,
but I couldn’t place this spot…
Head…Galley… The last one lead to the engines, so I
floated up and phased through the door and went down the
long dark hallway.
At the end was a purple tube filled with lightning,
making the whole room glow, and acting as the rooms only
light source. I paused and gasped my hawk gasp.

20
 “The ghosts!” I said in shock.
This was all from my dream, the chrome, the buttons,
Zophia leading me into the three hallways, and the purple
thing! It was all here!
Zophia was right!
I started to breathe heavily. The overwhelming thought of
what the dream may have meant for me… It has never
gone this far before, and now I was here! I was making a
conclusion to the dream I have been seeing for as long as I
can remember that has never had an ending.
I want to make it a good one…
I saw a control panel wrapping around the whole room
that seemed to be made for Terras gravity. I stretched my
arm and made my way over to some controls in front of the
purple thing. I examined the purple lightning in the tube,
and I was guessing that it’s a power generator.
I’m planning to shut off the engines and reroute the
command to the frontal boosters and slow this ship down. I
typed the password in where required, xSCxHTx, feeling a
little morbid now, and continued, trying to figure out what
to do.
I saw a whole diagram of the ship that was interactive by
touch screen. I used my index finger as a stylus, and
rotated the ship on the display to its rear and shut down the
booster rockets.
After a few seconds, I felt the ship rumble and loose
power and the purple thing became noticeably dimmer. As
that happened, I searched for a way to encrypt this to a
password.
Unfortunately, the whole system became non-responsive
while processing my command.
“Oh damn it!” I squeaked and pounded the keyboard.

21
 “That’s what happens when you hack my computer
Kyoko…” I looked back to see Sam, who was infuriated at
me.
“Oh no…”
My voice was still warbled due to how I felt. Sam didn’t
care. He lounged at me and wrapped his hands around my
neck. I looked at him and felt a familiar chill from the look
of fire he gave me.
“Stop this… Stop doing all of this…” he said through his
teeth and continued to wrap his arms around me. I stole a
glance at the display; it seemed to be working again. I
exhaled slightly and spoke to him.
“You could stop and save humanity…” I said and phased
through his arms to fly to the display.
I tried to find out where the physical lines to the
accelerator were. Waiting while all the resources are being
used was suicide. I’m going try to sever it, and cripple it
manually.
“What the hell?” Sam shouted in bewilderment, and then
he caught on, just as I studied the map to find the line.
I quickened my pace when I saw him come after me. I
moved out of the way and Sam hit his head on the display.
I moved behind the purple thing to locate the main panel
that feeds the rear jets.
“I am going to get you Kyoko, and when I do… I’ll…”
he started and reached for me with insane vigor.
I flew across the cabinets, looking for the right panel by
the names taped on the doors. I countered Sams grasp by
becoming intangible until I found the right door. Sam was,
rapidly, without much thought in his actions, trying to
catch me.
“I’ll kill you Kyoko… I’ll catch you and put you through
a taffy puller until you can’t stand it!” he yelled.

22
 I ignored him when I found the right cabinet. Sam
grabbed me when I became solid and pulled me away,
though I acted as if I wasn’t being pulled at all and just
stretched my torso back over to use the cabinet. I phased
out of Sam’s arm again, went back to the cabinet, and
opened it up.
“What? Why do you keep doing that?” he yelled.
“Duh…” I muttered, more to myself, then to him.
I pulled the hatch off and tried to draw the wires off the
flipside. The ship started to shake violently when I didn’t
even do anything to cause it.
“Damn!” I yelled. The vibration probably meant that we
were getting very close to Sol. I whined aloud, and started
with my severing.
“No you bitch! You’ll ruin everything!” Sam yelled and
charged again. I moved quicker, but stopped after I got an
idea.
He came at me. Using the lack of light in here, I
outstretched the panel wires as far as it would go in Sam’s
path and evaded him at the last moment. Sam severed,
actually snapped and broke the wires, and that caused
sparks to fly everywhere. Sam stopped against the wall and
looked at what he had done.
The rear boosters were dead. Farther acceleration was
impossible without some repairs done.
“Oh, hell no, you bitch!” he shouted and came after me. I
was already on my way back to the cockpit to turn the ship
around.
Sam caught me again and squeezed me as hard as he
could. In a spur of the moment idea, with little thought, I
used the death pill that Adam gave me that was hiding
under my tongue. I went limp. If all goes right, I should
partly turn to Elotant, fooling Sam into thinking he got me.

23
Sam loosened his grip and kicked my remains out of the
way.
“Good… from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I
spit my last breath at thee.” He muttered and left. Why did
he say the same comment twice now? That’s a little
imprudent.
I floated there for a few seconds then reformed. I flew
quickly to the doors and phased through both of them,
seeing Sam making his way back to the cockpit.
I snuck up on him and pulled him out of the way, hoping
to beat him to the controls. I sped over, and opened the
door before Sam could. I didn’t hear his obscenities and
shock, but I could feel them like they were a harsh wind at
my back.
Behind the cockpit door, I was greeted by the white-hot
intensity of Sol covering the whole window. I covered my
eyes and instinctively looked back at Sam, who was even
more blinded then I was.
Sam covered his eyes and blindly floated toward the
stuck door. Sols light blazed through the side door, and
didn’t help Sam to see a target to grasp. He screamed,
holding his eyes, and was pushed out from the air blowing
from the cockpit.
I stretched over to keep him from being sucked out. I was
centimeters from grabbing his hand; but Sam was
swallowed by Sols light, gone past my reach.
Sam… and Kat were dead.
I don’t think he would have survived either. The ships
exterior must be red hot, judging by the light from the door
that I initially opened. He couldn’t have anything to hold
onto, so he must have fallen into Sol.
I felt my heart leap into my throat. Wasting no time, I
instantly went back to the cockpit to steer the ship. I closed
the cockpit door and quickly moved the joystick. I pulled
24
back, feeling the heat on my face and the ship rumble and
make a deafening hum.
“Please, please, please, please…” I kept muttering,
waiting not to see Sol anymore.
I heard several things on the console pop, and I saw some
smoke came from the controls, but I was moving. I
tightened my grip until it hurt and leaned farther back until
I saw Sol curve away and show off her corona.
I smiled.
I was in the clear so far. I eased off on the acceleration
and continued off until I was departing the opposite way,
ridding on the push that the ship gave to get here.
I made it… I stopped Sam and saved the solar system…
I’m going to go home now, and go to bed

25